U.S. patent application number 11/324261 was filed with the patent office on 2007-03-22 for image forming apparatus.
This patent application is currently assigned to KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS TECHNOLOGIES, INC.. Invention is credited to Tatsuyoshi Haga.
Application Number | 20070064025 11/324261 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 37507676 |
Filed Date | 2007-03-22 |
United States Patent
Application |
20070064025 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Haga; Tatsuyoshi |
March 22, 2007 |
Image forming apparatus
Abstract
There is described an image forming apparatus, which includes: a
hard disc drive to store consecutive image data into a
physically-continuos region on a hard disc; and a controlling
section to control data accessing operation for said hard disc
drive in such a manner that, with regard to at least a write
processing and a read processing if said hard disc drive commences
said write processing or said read processing, said data accessing
operation for said write processing or said read processing is
continued until a predetermined size of data is written onto said
hard disc or read from said hard disc.
Inventors: |
Haga; Tatsuyoshi; (Tokyo,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FINNEGAN, HENDERSON, FARABOW, GARRETT & DUNNER;LLP
901 NEW YORK AVENUE, NW
WASHINGTON
DC
20001-4413
US
|
Assignee: |
KONICA MINOLTA BUSINESS
TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
|
Family ID: |
37507676 |
Appl. No.: |
11/324261 |
Filed: |
January 4, 2006 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
347/5 ;
G9B/20.014 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11B 2220/2516 20130101;
G06F 3/0656 20130101; H04N 2201/0091 20130101; G11B 20/10527
20130101; H04N 1/32358 20130101; G11B 2020/10805 20130101; G06F
3/061 20130101; G11B 2020/10675 20130101; G06F 3/0676 20130101;
G06F 3/0659 20130101; H04N 2201/3288 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
347/005 |
International
Class: |
B41J 29/38 20060101
B41J029/38 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 16, 2005 |
JP |
JP2005-270904 |
Claims
1. An image forming apparatus, comprising a hard disc drive to
store consecutive image data into a physically-continuous region on
a hard disc; and a controlling section to control data accessing
operation for said hard disc drive in such a manner that, with
regard to at least a write processing and a read processing if said
hard disc drive commences said write processing or said read
processing, said data accessing operation for said write processing
or said read processing is continued until a predetermined size of
data is written onto said hard disc or read from said hard disc;
wherein said predetermined size is established for every task for
accessing said hard disc drive.
2. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein said
predetermined size is changeable.
3. The image forming apparatus of claim 2, further comprising: an
inputting section to input said predetermined size.
4. The image forming apparatus of claim 3, wherein said inputting
section includes an operating section to be operated by a user.
5. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, wherein said
predetermined size is made to be changed corresponding to a
priority of said data accessing operation.
6. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a
storage section to store said consecutive image data read from said
hard disc drive; and an outputting section to output said
consecutive image data read from said storage section; wherein said
controlling section changes said predetermined size, corresponding
to a free-space capacity of said storage section.
7. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: an
inputting section to input said consecutive image data; and a
storage section to store said consecutive image data inputted from
said inputting section; wherein said controlling section controls
said data accessing operation for said hard disc drive so that said
consecutive image data stored in said storage section are
transferred into said hard disc drive; and wherein said controlling
section changes said predetermined size, corresponding to a
free-space capacity of said storage section.
8. The image forming apparatus of claim 7, wherein said
predetermined size exceeds a maximum transferable size, which is
defined as a maximum data size being transferable at a time from
said storage section to said hard disc drive.
9. The image forming apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: an
inputting section to input said consecutive image data; and a
storage section to store said consecutive image data inputted from
said inputting section; wherein said predetermined size exceeds a
maximum transferable size, which is defined as a maximum data size
being transferable at a time from said storage section to said hard
disc drive.
10. An image forming apparatus, comprising a hard disc drive to
store consecutive image data into a physically-continuous region on
a hard disc; and a controlling section to control data accessing
operation for said hard disc drive in such a manner that, if said
hard disc drive commences a write processing, said data accessing
operation for said write processing is continued until a first
predetermined size of data is written onto said hard disc, while,
when said hard disc drive commences a read processing, said data
accessing operation for said read processing is continued until a
second predetermined size of data is read from said hard disc;
wherein said first predetermined size and said second predetermined
size are respectively established for said write processing use and
for said read processing use.
11. The image forming apparatus of claim 10, wherein said first
predetermined size and said second predetermined size are
changeable.
12. The image forming apparatus of claim 11, further comprising: an
inputting section to input said predetermined size.
13. The image forming apparatus of claim 12, wherein said inputting
section includes an operating section to be operated by a user.
14. The image forming apparatus of claim 10, wherein said first
predetermined size and said second predetermined size are made to
be changed, corresponding to a priority of said data accessing
operation.
15. The image forming apparatus of claim 14, wherein a relative
relationship between great and small sizes in regard to said first
predetermined size and said second predetermined size is
changeable, corresponding to said priority of said data accessing
operation.
16. The image forming apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: a
storage section to store said consecutive image data read from said
hard disc drive; and an outputting section to output said
consecutive image data read from said storage section; wherein said
controlling section changes at least one of said first
predetermined size and said second predetermined size,
corresponding to a free-space capacity of said storage section.
17. The image forming apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: an
inputting section to input said consecutive image data; and a
storage section to store said consecutive image data inputted from
said inputting section; wherein said controlling section controls
said data accessing operation for said hard disc drive so that said
consecutive image data stored in said storage section are
transferred into said hard disc drive; and wherein said controlling
section changes said first predetermined size, corresponding to a
free-space capacity of said storage section.
18. The image forming apparatus of claim 17, wherein said first
predetermined size exceeds a maximum transferable size, which is
defined as a maximum data size being transferable at a time from
said storage section to said hard disc drive.
19. The image forming apparatus of claim 10, further comprising: an
inputting section to input said consecutive image data; and a
storage section to store said consecutive image data inputted from
said inputting section; wherein said first predetermined size
exceeds a maximum transferable size, which is defined as a maximum
data size being transferable at a time from said storage section to
said hard disc drive.
20. An image forming apparatus, comprising a hard disc drive to
store consecutive image data into a physically-continuous region on
a hard disc; and a controlling section to control data accessing
operation for said hard disc drive in such a manner that, with
regard to at least a write processing and a read processing if said
hard disc drive commences said write processing or said read
processing, said data accessing operation for said write processing
or said read processing is continued until a predetermined size of
data is written onto said hard disc or read from said hard disc;
wherein said predetermined size is changeable.
21. The image forming apparatus of claim 20, further comprising: an
inputting section to input said predetermined size.
22. The image forming apparatus of claim 21, wherein said inputting
section includes an operating section to be operated by a user.
23. The image forming apparatus of claim 20, wherein said
predetermined size is made to be changed corresponding to a
priority of said data accessing operation.
24. The image forming apparatus of claim 23, wherein a relative
relationship between great and small sizes in regard to a
predetermined size for said write processing and a predetermined
size for said read processing is changeable, corresponding to said
priority of said data accessing operation.
25. The image forming apparatus of claim 20, further comprising: a
storage section to store said consecutive image data read from said
hard disc drive; and an outputting section to output said
consecutive image data read from said storage section; wherein said
controlling section changes said predetermined size, corresponding
to a free-space capacity of said storage section.
26. The image forming apparatus of claim 20, further comprising: an
inputting section to input said consecutive image data; and a
storage section to store said consecutive image data inputted from
said inputting section; wherein said controlling section controls
said data accessing operation for said hard disc drive so that said
consecutive image data stored in said storage section are
transferred into said hard disc drive; and wherein said controlling
section changes said predetermined size, corresponding to a
free-space capacity of said storage section.
27. The image forming apparatus of claim 20, wherein said
predetermined size exceeds a maximum transferable size, which is
defined as a maximum data size being transferable at a time from
said storage section to said hard disc drive.
28. The image forming apparatus of claim 27, further comprising: an
inputting section to input said consecutive image data; and a
storage section to store said consecutive image data inputted from
said inputting section; wherein said predetermined size exceeds a
maximum transferable size, which is defined as a maximum data size
being transferable at a time from said storage section to said hard
disc drive.
29. An image forming apparatus, comprising a hard disc drive to
store consecutive image data into a physically-continuous region on
a hard disc; an inputting section to input said consecutive image
data; a storage section to store said consecutive image data
inputted from said inputting section; and a controlling section to
control data accessing operation for said hard disc drive in such a
manner that, with regard to at least a write processing and a read
processing if said hard disc drive commences said write processing
or said read processing, said data accessing operation for said
write processing or said read processing is continued until a
predetermined size of data is written onto said hard disc or read
from said hard disc; wherein said predetermined size exceeds a
maximum transferable size, which is defined as a maximum data size
being transferable at a time from said storage section to said hard
disc drive.
Description
[0001] This application is based on Japanese Patent Application NO.
2005-270904 filed on Sep. 6, 2005 in Japanese Patent Office, the
entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus
for storing image data into a hard disc, particularly to a
technique of avoiding reduction in accessing efficiency if there is
contention between read processing and write processing.
[0003] An image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine
generally utilizes a hard disk apparatus to store image data, since
the hard disk apparatus provides high-volume storage at a lower
cost.
[0004] However, the hard disk apparatus is required to move a head
to an intended destination on the disk for reading and writing data
or to wait for rotation until an intended sector is located
immediately below the head. This makes the access rate lower than
that when a semiconductor memory is used.
[0005] Various techniques have been therefore proposed to ensure
effective data read/write operations in the hard disk apparatus. In
one of these techniques, for example, the physical access position
on a disk is directly specified to allow a series of image data to
be stored into a continuous region on the disk, in such a manner
that the frequency of head movement is reduced and access
efficiency is improved. Normally, when a file system is used, the
physical storage location on a disk cannot be specified from an
application. However, there is an image processing apparatus (e.g.
Patent Document 1) wherein a file system is provided with the
function of storing a continuous region for one image page on the
disk, whereby the image data can be stored in the continuous region
when the file system is used.
[0006] [Patent Document 1] [0007] Tokkai 2002-29101 (Japanese
Non-Examined Patent Publication)
[0008] In some of the digital copying machines, a read operation
and a printout operation are processed in parallel at the same
time; wherein, in the read operation, the image data obtained by
reading a document with a scanner and the image data transferred
from an external device via an interface are stored sequentially
into the hard disk apparatus; while, in the printout operation, the
stored page image data is read out sequentially from the hard disk
apparatus and is outputted to a printing section. In this case, the
write processing involved in the read operation and the read
processing involved in the printout operation must be carried out
concurrently. The hard disk apparatus can handle either the read or
write operation at one time. This requires frequent switching
between read processing and write processing.
[0009] As shown in FIG. 7, when read processing and write
processing have occurred concurrently and there is contention
between two transfer data sets (Y in Step S301), a check is made to
see if write processing or read processing (Step S302) was
performed in the previous access. If write processing was performed
(Y in Step S302), read processing for a maximum transfer unit (64
Kbytes) for the hard disk apparatus is performed this time (Step
303). If read processing was performed in the previous access (N in
Step S302), control is provided to ensure that the write processing
for a maximum transfer unit is performed this time (Step 303). In
this manner, the read processing and write processing are switched
alternately for each maximum transfer unit, according to the
conventional technique.
[0010] Even if a series of image data is stored in the physically
continuous region on a disk, frequent switching between the read
and write processing causes frequent head movement and this reduces
access efficiency. This is because the physically continuous region
for storing the image data related to read processing is separated
from that related to write processing. For example, as shown in
FIG. 8, when the image data storage location 311 related to read
processing is located close to the outer periphery of the disk 312,
and the image data storage location 313 related to write processing
is located near the center of the disk 312, the head 314 moves a
great distance on the disk 312 at every switching of the read
processing and write processing, even if each of the image data
sets is stored physically continuous region of the disk. This has
reduced the access efficiency and has deteriorated the performance
such as copying operation. Such a problem was left unsolved in the
conventional techniques.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] To overcome the abovementioned drawbacks in conventional
image forming apparatus, it is an object of the present invention
to provide an image forming apparatus, which makes it possible to
improve the performance of the apparatus by preventing the
deterioration of the accessing efficiency of the hard disc
apparatus (hereinafter, also referred to as a hard disc drive) when
there is contention between read processing and write
processing.
[0012] Accordingly, to overcome the cited shortcomings, the
abovementioned object of the present invention can be attained by
image forming apparatus described as follow.
[0013] An image forming apparatus, comprising
[0014] a hard disc drive to store consecutive image data into a
physically-continuous region on a hard disc; and
[0015] a controlling section to control data accessing operation
for said hard disc drive in such a manner that, with regard to at
least a write processing and a read processing if said hard disc
drive commences said write processing or said read processing, said
data accessing operation for said write processing or said read
processing is continued until a predetermined size of data is
written onto said hard disc or read from said hard disc;
[0016] wherein said predetermined size is established for every
task for accessing said hard disc drive.
[0017] An image forming apparatus, comprising
[0018] a hard disc drive to store consecutive image data into a
physically-continuous region on a hard disc; and
[0019] a controlling section to control data accessing operation
for said hard disc drive in such a manner that, if said hard disc
drive commences a write processing, said data accessing operation
for said write processing is continued until a first predetermined
size of data is written onto said hard disc, while, when said hard
disc drive commences a read processing, said data accessing
operation for said read processing is continued until a second
predetermined size of data is read from said hard disc;
[0020] wherein said first predetermined size and said second
predetermined size are respectively established for said write
processing use and for said read processing use.
[0021] An image forming apparatus, comprising
[0022] a hard disc drive to store consecutive image data into a
physically-continuous region on a hard disc; and
[0023] a controlling section to control data accessing operation
for said hard disc drive in such a manner that, with regard to at
least a write processing and a read processing if said hard disc
drive commences said write processing or said read processing, said
data accessing operation for said write processing or said read
processing is continued until a predetermined size of data is
written onto said hard disc or read from said hard disc;
[0024] wherein said predetermined size is changeable.
[0025] An image forming apparatus, comprising
[0026] a hard disc drive to store consecutive image data into a
physically-continuous region on a hard disc;
[0027] an inputting section to input said consecutive image
data;
[0028] a storage section to store said consecutive image data
inputted from said inputting section; and
[0029] a controlling section to control data accessing operation
for said hard disc drive in such a manner that, with regard to at
least a write processing and a read processing if said hard disc
drive commences said write processing or said read processing, said
data accessing operation for said write processing or said read
processing is continued until a predetermined size of data is
written onto said hard disc or read from said hard disc;
[0030] wherein said predetermined size exceeds a maximum
transferable size, which is defined as a maximum data size being
transferable at a time from said storage section to said hard disc
drive.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] Embodiments will now be described, by way of example only,
with reference to the accompanying drawings which are meant to be
exemplary, not limiting, and wherein like elements are numbered
alike in several Figures, in which:
[0032] FIG. 1 shows an electrical schematic structure of an image
forming apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention;
[0033] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the control of access to a
hard disk apparatus, conducted by the image forming apparatus
embodied in the present invention;
[0034] FIG. 3(a) and FIG. 3(b) schematically show the access to a
hard disk apparatus when there is contention between the read and
write processing;
[0035] FIG. 4 shows the result of measuring the transfer rate for
various continuous transfer sizes, as an example;
[0036] FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the
priority setting screen to be displayed on an operating section of
an image forming apparatus embodied in the present invention;
[0037] FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of access control when a continuous
transfer size is changed in response to a free-space capacity of a
buffer memory;
[0038] FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a conventional access control
when there is contention between the read and write processing;
and
[0039] FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of
moving state of a read/write head when a read processing and a
write processing are alternately conducted.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0040] Referring to the drawing, the following describes the
embodiments of the present invention:
[0041] FIG. 1 shows an electrical schematic structure of an image
forming apparatus 10 as an embodiment of the present invention. The
image forming apparatus 10 is designed as a digital copying machine
to perform copying operations for reading a document, forming the
copied image thereof on a recording sheet and outputting it. It is
provided with a reading section 11 for reading the document and an
image forming section 12 for forming an image on the recording
sheet according to the image data.
[0042] The reading section 11 is provided with:
[0043] a light source for applying light to the document;
[0044] a line image sensor for reading one line of the document
across the width;
[0045] a moving section for moving the reading position for each
line along the length; and
[0046] an optical path of a lens or mirror for leading the light
reflected from the document, to the line image sensor so as to form
an image. The line image sensor is constituted by a charge coupled
device (CCD).
[0047] The analog image signal outputted from the line image sensor
is subjected to analog-to-digital conversion and is outputted as a
digital image data.
[0048] The image forming section 12 includes a recording paper
conveyance section, photoconductor drum, electrical charger, a
laser unit, a development apparatus and a transfer/detaching
apparatus a cleaning section, and a fixing section. It is designed
as a laser based printer engine for forming an image on the
recording paper by the electrophotographic process.
[0049] In addition to these units, the image forming apparatus 10
has a system bus 13, which is connected with a controlling section
14 for overall control of the operations of the apparatus; a USB
(Universal Serial Bus) interface 15 connected with a USB device
such as a USB memory; an HDD controlling section 17 for controlling
data read/write operations using the hard disk apparatus 16, a
network controlling section 18 for communication with an external
terminal via the network, an operation display section 19, a memory
controlling section 21.
[0050] The controlling section 14 is made of such major components
as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a flash memory and a RAM
(Random Access Memory). A magnetic disk apparatus capable of
storing a large volume of data is used as the hard disk apparatus
16. A hard disk apparatus of other configuration such as a
photomagnetic disk can also be utilized.
[0051] The operation display section 19 is equipped with a liquid
crystal display, a touch panel formed on the surface thereof and
other operation switches. Various operation screens, guide screens
and alarm screens are displayed on the liquid crystal display. It
is designed to accept various instructions from the user through
the touch panel and output switch.
[0052] A buffer memory 22 for temporary storage of image data and a
compression/decompression section 23 for compression and
decompression of image data are connected under the control of the
memory controlling section 21. A semiconductor memory for high-rate
access is used as the buffer memory 22.
[0053] The memory controlling section 21 performs the functions of
writing and reading the image data using the buffer memory 22, and
controlling the input and output operations using the
compression/decompression section 23. The image data outputted by
the reading section 11 is inputted into the memory controlling
section 21. The image forming section 12 is supplied with the image
data for printout from the memory controlling section 21.
[0054] The copying operation in the image forming apparatus 10 of
such a structure is achieved by the read operation and printout
operation; wherein, in the step of the read operation, the image
data obtained from the document read by the reading section 11 is
read sequentially into the hard disk apparatus 16, while in the
step of in the printout operation, the image data of the page
already stored is sequentially from the hard disk apparatus 16 and
is outputted into the image forming section 12.
[0055] In the read operation, the image data obtained from the
document read by the reading section 11 is compressed by the
compression/decompression section 23 and is then stored in the
buffer memory 22. After that, the compressed image data is stored
in the hard disk apparatus 16 through the memory controlling
section 21 and HDD controlling section 17.
[0056] In the printout operation, the image data read from the hard
disk apparatus 16 is stored in the buffer memory 22 through the HDD
controlling section 17 and memory controlling section 21. After
that, the image data is decompressed by the
compression/decompression section 23 and is stored in the buffer
memory 22. The image data having been decompressed is sequentially
outputted to the image forming section 12 through the memory
controlling section 21 from the buffer memory 22.
[0057] The image forming apparatus 10 performs the read/write
operations using the hard disk apparatus 16 through direct
management of the physically storage location (sector) on the disk,
without using a file system. It uses the method of storing the
one-page image data in the continuous region on the disk. When the
image data over a plurality of pages is to be stored in one job,
the image data of the next page is stored in the region continued
from the previous page, wherever possible.
[0058] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the control of access to the
hard disk apparatus 16 provided by the image forming apparatus 10.
The controlling section 14 checks whether or not there is image
data to be transferred between the buffer memory 22 and hard disk
apparatus 16 (Step S101). "There is image data to be transferred"
when more than a predetermined amount of compressed image data is
already loaded in the buffer memory 22 in the read operation at the
time of copying, and a write request has been issued for storing
the image data in the hard disk apparatus 16, or when a read
request has been issued for reading the image data from the hard
disk apparatus 16 in the printout operation at the time of copying
operation, for example.
[0059] If there is image data to be transferred (Y in Step S101), a
decision step is taken to determine whether or not both read and
write requests have been made and contention has occurred (Step
S102). If contention has occurred (Y in Step S102), a decision step
is taken to determine if the previously performed operation is the
write processing for writing data into the hard disk apparatus 16
or the read processing for reading data from the hard disk
apparatus 16 (Step S103). If the write processing was performed in
the previous operation (Y in Step S103), the read processing is
performed this time (Step S105). If the read processing was
performed in the previous operation (N in Step S103), the write
processing is performed this time (Step S107). To put it another
way, if there is contention, the read and write operations are
carried out alternately.
[0060] Once the read or write processing starts, the read or write
processing is allowed to occupy the access to the hard disk
apparatus 16, until the read or write operation of a predetermined
continuous transfer size terminates. The continuously transfer size
is set to the size exceeding the maximum transfer unit (64 Kbytes
in this case) that can be transmitted in one transfer operation to
the hard disk apparatus 16 by the HDD controlling section 17. In
this case, it is set to a value equivalent to N times (N denoting
an integer of 2 or more) the maximum transfer unit. The maximum
transfer size is determined by the code of HDD controlling section
17.
[0061] To put it more specifically, the operation of allowing the
access to be occupied is performed as follows: In read processing,
the read operation of 64 Kbytes--the maximum transfer unit for the
hard disk apparatus 16--16 is performed (Step S105). A check is
made to see whether or not the total amount of the transfer data
has reached the level of the continuous transfer size (Step S106).
If it has not yet reached that level (N in Step S106), the read
operation of 64 Kbytes as the maximum transfer unit is performed
again (Step S105). If the total amount of the transfer data has
exceeded the continuous transfer size (Y in Step S106), the read
processing is interrupted once and the system returns to the step
S101.
[0062] Similarly, if the write processing has started, the write
operation of 64 Kbytes as the maximum transfer unit for the hard
disk apparatus 16 is performed (Step S107). If the total of the
transfer data is less than the continuous transfer size (N in Step
S108), the write operation of 64 Kbytes as the maximum transfer
unit is performed again (Step S107). If the total amount of the
transfer data has exceeded the continuous transfer size (Y in Step
S108), the write processing is interrupted once and the system
returns to the step S101.
[0063] If there is data to be transferred (Y in Step S101) without
contention between read processing and write processing (N in Step
S102), a check is made to see whether or not the data to be
transferred is related to the write processing (Step S104). If the
data to be transferred is related to the write processing (Y in
Step S104), the write processing is executed on an exclusive basis
until the write operation of the continuous transfer size
terminates (Step S107 and N in Step S108). After that, the write
processing is terminated once and the system returns to the step
S101. If the data to be transferred is related to the read
processing (N in Step S104), the read processing is executed on an
exclusive basis until the read operation of the continuous transfer
size terminates (Step S105 and N in Step S106). After that, the
read processing is terminated once and the system returns to the
step S101.
[0064] If there is no more data to be transferred (N in Step S101),
processing terminates (END).
[0065] FIG. 3 schematically shows the access to the hard disk
apparatus when there is contention between the read and write
processing. FIG. 3 (a) is a diagram showing the state of access
when the continuous transfer size in the processing shown in FIG. 5
is set to three times the maximum transfer unit. FIG. 3 (b) is the
diagram representing the conventional state of access wherein the
read processing and write processing are switched for each maximum
transfer unit.
[0066] In FIG. 3 (a), after the read operation 51 of the maximum
transfer unit has been performed three times, head movement 52
starts and the head is fed to the storage position of the image
data for the write processing. Then after the write operation 53
has been performed three times at the maximum transfer unit, head
movement 54 starts and the head is fed to the storage position of
the image data for the read processing. By contrast, in the
conventional method shown in FIG. 3 (b), the read operation 51 and
write operation 53 is switched alternately for each maximum
transfer unit, and head movements 52 and 54 are carried out at
every switching.
[0067] As shown in FIG. 3 (a), when the read or write processing
has started, this processing is performed on an exclusive basis
until the access operation for the continuous transfer size
terminates. This reduces the number of head movements and improves
the transfer rate of input/output data using the hard disk
apparatus 16.
[0068] FIG. 4 shows the result of measuring the transfer rate for
various continuous transfer sizes, as an example. If the continuous
transfer size is increased, the transfer rate is gradually
improved. This example shows a remarkable effect in the improvement
of transfer rate resulting from increased continuous transfer size
by the time the continuous transfer size exceeds 1024 Kbytes. The
continuous transfer size can be adjusted by changing the set
value.
[0069] If the set value of the continuous transfer size is provided
separately for each of read and write processing in this case, the
continuous transfer size for read processing can be made different
from that for write processing. This makes it possible to control
the ratio of access (occupancy rate) to the hard disk apparatus 16
between the read processing and write processing. To put it another
way, which of the process including the write processing and that
including the read processing should be given priority, and to what
extent this priority should be given at the time of execution can
be determined by making adjustment in such a way that the
continuous transfer size for read processing is different from that
for write processing.
[0070] In the copying operation, if the continuous transfer size
for write processing is made greater than that for read operation,
the document read operation takes priority. If the continuous
transfer size for read processing is made greater than that for
write operation, the printout operation takes priority.
[0071] The image forming apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is
designed in such a way that a priority setup screen 60 shown in
FIG. 5 is displayed on the operation display section 19, and the
user can determined which of document reading operation and print
output operation should be given priority, and to what extent this
priority should be given at the time of execution. The priority
setup screen 60 indicates an indicator 61 showing the priority
setup state, an up-arrow key 62 for raising the read operation by
one rank, and a down-arrow key 63 for lowering the printout
operation by one rank.
[0072] This example allows the priority to be adjusted in six
steps. When the read operation and printout operation are set to
the same level on the list of priority, the continuous transfer
size for write processing and that for read processing are both set
at four Mbytes. Every time the priority is changed one step, the
continuous transfer size is increased or decreased one Mbyte. In
FIG. 5, the printout side is set to a level one step higher on the
list of priority. Without being restricted to the examples given
above, the continuous transfer size and the amount of increase or
decrease can be set as appropriate.
[0073] The following describes the case where the continuous
transfer size is changed in response to the free-space capacity of
the buffer memory 22.
[0074] In the copying operation, to ensure a smooth document
reading operation, the buffer memory 22 is required to ensure a
free-space capacity at an appropriate level. If the free-space
capacity is not sufficient, the read operation will fail.
Similarly, if the image data ready for output is insufficient in
the buffer memory 22, the printout operation will fail. To avoid
such a problem, the continuous transfer size is changed dynamically
in response to the read buffer area (not illustrated) provided on
the buffer memory 22 and the printout buffer area, whereby smoother
copying operation is performed.
[0075] FIG. 6 shows the flow of access control when the continuous
transfer size is changed in response to the free-space capacity of
the buffer memory. The basic flow is the same as that given in FIG.
2. The difference is the presence of the Step S125 and Step S126
wherein the continuous transfer size is changed in response to the
free-space capacity of the buffer memory. For other steps, Steps
S121 through S124 correspond to Steps 101 through 104 in FIG. 2,
and Steps S127 through S130 correspond to Steps S105 through S108
in FIG. 2
[0076] In the processing shown in FIG. 6, the free space of the
buffer area in the buffer memory 22 is checked before the read
operation of continuous transfer size is performed. Setting is
changed in response to the size thereof (Step S125). For example,
when the free-space capacity is smaller than a reference level, the
continuous transfer size for write operation is increased in order
to ensure that the write processing related to the read operation
is higher on the list of priority. Conversely, when the free-space
capacity is greater than the reference level, the continuous
transfer size of the write operation is reduced. Such a control
procedure can be used.
[0077] Further, the free space of the printout buffer area in the
buffer memory 22 is checked before the write operation of
continuous transfer size is performed. Setting is changed in
response to the size thereof (Step S126). For example, when the
free-space capacity is greater than a reference level, the
continuous transfer size for read operation is increased in order
to ensure that the read processing related to the printout
operation is higher on the list of priority. Conversely, when the
free-space capacity is smaller than the reference level, the
continuous transfer size of the read operation is reduced. Such a
control procedure can be used.
[0078] Further, continuous transfer size for write operation and
that for read operation can be set in response to the ratio between
the read rate of the reading section 11 and output rate of the
image forming section 12. Further, it is also possible to provide
control in such a way that the set value of continuous transfer
size is provided for each task. As the task is higher on the list
of priority, the continuous transfer size of that task is
increased. For example, when there is contention among three tasks,
three set values of the continuous transfer size are prepared for
these tasks, respectively. When a continuous transfer size is
provided for each task, it is possible to cope with the contention
between two sets of read processing and contention between two sets
of write processing.
[0079] The embodiment of the present invention has been described
with reference to drawings. A specific embodiment is not restricted
to the examples shown above. The present invention can be embodied
in variations with appropriate modification or additions, without
departing from the technological spirit and scope of the invention
claimed.
[0080] The aforementioned embodiment has been explained with
reference to the copying operation as an example. Without being
restricted thereto, the advantages of the present invention are
effectively utilized if there is contention among a plurality of
operations for the access to the hard disk apparatus 16. Without
being restricted to the digital copying machine shown with
reference to the embodiment, the present invention can be applied
to a facsimile machine, a printer and others wherein image data is
stored in a hard disk apparatus.
[0081] According to the present embodiment, the following effects
can be attained.
[0082] (1) A series of image data is stored in the physically
continuous region on a disk. At the same time, once the read or
write processing starts, the read or write processing is allowed to
occupy the access to the hard disk apparatus, until the read or
write operation of a predetermined continuous transfer size
terminates. Even if there is contention between the read processing
and write processing, this arrangement minimizes reduction of the
access efficiency, and improves the performance of the system.
[0083] (2) When the predetermined size occupying the hard disk
apparatus can be set for each task or separately for each of the
write and read processing, the ratio of the operations of access to
the hard disk apparatus among tasks or the ratio of access
operations between the write and read processing, can be controlled
by changing the predetermined size. This makes it possible to
control the level of priority of the operations of the apparatus
involved in the task and processing.
[0084] According to the embodiment described in the above, the hard
disc drive stores consecutive image data into a
physically-continuous region on a hard disc, and when the hard disc
drive commences the write processing or the read processing, the
data accessing operation for the write processing or the read
processing is continued until a predetermined size of data is
written or read onto/from the hard disc. Namely, during the time
period form the start of the write processing or the read
processing to the completion of the writing action or the reading
action for the predetermined size of data, the data accessing
operation for the write processing or the read processing is
continued without being disturbed by other accessing operation.
Accordingly, during this time period, since the read/write head
only moves along this physically-continuous region, the
deterioration of the accessing efficiency caused by the frequent
movements of the read/write head can be effectively prevented.
Incidentally, the predetermined size of data is set at such a size
that is larger than the maximum transferring unit for the hard disc
drive, for instance, set at plural times of the maximum
transferring unit.
[0085] Further, it is possible to set the predetermined size of
data for every task. For instance, in the case that the hard disc
drive is controlled in such a manner that each of plural tasks
accesses the hard disc drive in turn when there is contention of
accessing operations to the hard disc drive between the plural
tasks, it is possible to control the accessing ratios between the
plural tasks for the hard disc drive by varying the predetermined
size of data to be allotted to each of the plural tasks.
[0086] Also, according to the embodiment described in the above, it
becomes possible to respectively establish the first predetermined
size and the second predetermined size for the write processing use
and for the read processing use, independently relative to each
other. For instance, in the case that the hard disc drive is
controlled in such a manner that the write processing and the read
processing are alternately conducted when there is contention, it
is possible to control the accessing ratio (an occupation ratio)
between the write processing and the read processing for the hard
disc drive by establishing the first predetermined size for the
write processing use and the second predetermined size for the read
processing use so that both are different from each other.
[0087] Further, according to the embodiment, by changing the
predetermined size, it is possible to adjust the length of the time
period while each of the tasks or each processing occupies the hard
disc drive as one routine.
[0088] According to the embodiment, by changing the predetermined
size, it is possible to adjust the length of the time period while
each of the tasks or each processing occupies the hard disc drive
as one routine.
[0089] According to the embodiment, it is possible for the user to
change the setting value of the predetermined size through the
operating section. Accordingly, for instance, it becomes possible
to determine whether an apparatus operation of the write processing
side (for instance, reading operation at the time of copying)
should be conducted prior to another apparatus operation of the
read processing side (for instance, print outputting operation at
the time of copying) or vise versa, and to adjust the degree of its
priority, according to the user's requests.
[0090] Further, according to the embodiment, the predetermined size
is automatically changed corresponding to the priority of the
processing. In the embodiment, the term of "the priority of the
processing" includes, for instance, a priority of the task to which
the read processing and the write processing are belong, a priority
of processing based on the free-space capacity of the buffer
storage used for the read processing and the free-space capacity of
the buffer storage used for the write processing, a priority of
processing based on the ratio between the scanner reading velocity
and the printing velocity, etc.
[0091] According to the embodiment, by changing the relative
relationship between great and small sizes in regard to the first
predetermined size and the second predetermined size, it is
possible to relatively change the priority relationship between the
read processing and the write processing.
[0092] According to the embodiment, since the predetermined size
exceeds a maximum transferable size being transferable at a time
from the storage section to the hard disc drive, the transferring
operations from the storage section to the hard disc drive are
conducted at least two times within one processing routine.
[0093] While the preferred embodiments of the present invention
have been described using specific term, such description is for
illustrative purpose only, and it is to be understood that changes
and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and
scope of the appended claims.
* * * * *